It is discovered by chance that cancerous leukemia cells turn into harmless immune cells

ByWellcome Images

Also called "blood cancer"leukemia, Cancer cells of leukocytes that have been cancerous during proliferation proliferate in the bone marrow, normal blood cells decrease, anemia and immunity decline,Bleeding tendencyIt is a disease that causes symptoms such as. There are four types of leukemia, roughly divided depending on the place of proliferation and acute or chronic nature, but one of them is "Acute lymphocytic leukemiaIt was discovered by chance that cancerous leukocyte cells that cause causes of cancer cells change into harmless immune cells.

Reprogramming of primary human Philadelphia chromosome-positive B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells into nonleukemic macrophages
http://www.pnas.org/content/112/13/4074.abstract

Scientists discover how to change human leukemia cells into harmless immune cells | News Center | Stanford Medicine
http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/03/scientists-discover-how-to-change-human-leukemia-cells.html

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is a disease in which lymphocytes, a type of leukocyte, become malignant while immature and increase with a tremendous momentum in the bone marrow, and symptoms develop rapidly. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is further classified into types, depending on the type of malignant lymphocytes and the degree of maturation.

ByGerolf Nikolay

Stanford University School of MedicineofRavindra MajetiA research team led by a professor, among several acute lymphocytic leukemias, "B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL) "Was investigated in the past. As its name suggests, B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia is a type of lymphocyte that has stopped growing at the maturity of the cellB cellIt is caused by.

Premature B cells, which have stopped in the growth process,Transcription factorBecause it is lost, it will not be able to differentiate into normal cells. A transcription factor is a group of proteins that have a function to recognize and bind DNA sequences and control the expression of genes and play an important role in many reactions occurring within cells.

ByWellcome Images

B-ALL is a disease with little likelihood of recovery by therapy even in cancer, and the researchers are conducting a survey to examine the characteristics by extracting only B cells from B-ALL patients in order to elucidate its mechanism It was. Then, when a B cell taken out by a researcher touches a transcription factor, a change which has not been confirmed until now in B cell has occurred therein. Although the B cell suddenly changed its size and shape, the shape after the change is a phenomenon in which the denatured substance occurring in the body and the invading bacteriaPredationWhich is a type of white blood cellsMacrophageIt was very similar to.

After that, when the research team investigated the B cells that changed in a way that is said by chance, they found that they had genes that are very similar in structure to macrophages and that they also had the same function as "predation" of macrophages . Also, even if B cells that had contact with transcription factors and had changed characteristics were added to experimental mice that do not have an immune system against B-ALL, cancer caused by B cells did not develop.

ByRick Eh?

According to Professor Majeti who led the research team, the cause of the sudden change in B cells is unknown, although an interesting phenomenon was discovered this time. As a next goal, the researchers cite the development of drugs that are effective in treating B-ALL by elucidating the mechanism of change that has occurred in B cells and artificially creating similar changes.